Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930 – 1993) ‘Spinning Man Drawing’, 1961

Pencil on paper
H75 x W55cm

Born in Thurlow, Suffolk, Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) trained at Guildford School of Art (1947-49), and at Chelsea School of Art (1949-1952) under Bernard Meadows and Willi Soukop. These studies, combined with visits to Paris that acquainted her with Giacometti and the works of Rodin, culminated in Frink’s first major exhibition at the Beaux Art Gallery in 1952 (from which the Tate Gallery purchased her work Bird), the same year in which she exhibited with the London Group.

Frink’s first solo exhibition was in 1955, at St George’s Gallery, and in 1957 she received her first major public commissions: Boar, from Harlow New Town, and Blind Man and his Dog for Bethnal Green. After joining them in 1958, Frink remained with Waddington Galleries for the remainder of her career.

Aiming for a rough texture in her bronzes, Frink, like Henry Moore, modelled, cast in plaster, and then carved the plaster. Focusing on men, dogs, horses, and birds as her primary subject matter, she rarely worked with the female form. In her catalogue raisonne, Frink states, “I have focused on the male because to me his is a subtle combination of sensuality and strength with vulnerability.”